Eternal (24 page)

T
WENTY-
E
IGHT

M
ichele reached out her hand, and Julia took it. It felt warm and strong, the skin soft. Her mother always used that cucumber lotion and scolded Julia for not taking better care of her skin. Julia stood facing her mother, who knelt in front of her and kissed her knee, just like when she was a little girl. The bleeding stopped immediately. When her mother stood, there wasn’t a speck of blood on her mouth—just her perfect lips highlighted in Rich Ruby lipstick.

Julia cried silently.

Her mother rubbed a thumb under Julia’s eyes and wiped the tears away. “I’m afraid there’s no time for that now,
ma chérie.”

“I can’t do this.”

“Of course you can. You were born to do this, Julia. When you feel weak, remember, I am always with you—sharing my strength, my knowledge, my love. I’ll never leave you.”
I’ll never leave you.
Just like on the mirror, on the car. The message hadn’t been meant to frighten her but to comfort her. She decided to let it. She kissed her mother on the cheek. Suddenly, Julia felt strong enough to continue running, and she resumed her breakneck pace. When she turned to look back, the vision was gone. Yet she knew that her mother was still here, with her. Her mom had always kept her word.

The pier was just ahead—the place Nadia liked to sit overlooking the water and meditate. Julia had long been skeptical about Nadia’s meditation, which she had begun after reading an article in
Cosmo
that found a correlation between meditation, career success, and a great complexion. If Nadia had coaxed Genevieve here, Julia still had a chance to save both Nadia and Austin.

Julia saw her, sitting on the edge of the pier with her legs tucked under her, peering at the pylon below. Julia followed Nadia’s gaze until she spotted Austin tied to the pylon with rope. Blood pooled in the water around him, and Julia feared he had been stabbed with the knife Nadia was carrying. His chin was at the waterline, and the tide was rising. He sputtered as a wave slapped his lips. Neither of them had seen Julia, yet. She crouched on the sand at the end of the pier, set down her shoulder bag, tucked an inhaler in her pocket, gripped the Super Taser in her right hand, and tried to think of a plan of attack.

Julia could swear she saw tears dripping from Nadia’s face into the surf as she yelled down to Austin, “I’m evil? Just because I want what everyone wants, to be loved? Someday you’ll realize you’re the selfish one. Think of all the people who might have been spared tonight if only you’d left Heloise alone in the first place.”

“You think letting me die here is going to get you the love you want?” Austin shouted. Then he shut his mouth against another wave.

“No. But at least
you
won’t get to be loved either.”

“Wrong, Genevieve!” Julia shouted.

She ran forward, her arm thrust in front of her with the Super Taser aimed at Nadia’s chest. Julia fired, but her target moved too quickly. Suddenly, Nadia was behind her, moving so fast that she had no time to respond. Nadia reached forward, pulled Julia’s right arm across her body, and twisted her wrist until the pain forced her to let go of the Taser, which clattered to the boards of the pier. When Julia tried to reach down to grab the weapon, Nadia yanked her arm down and back, flipping her onto her back and knocking the wind out of her.

Julia lay on her back gasping for breath as she struggled to reach for the Super Taser, which she could see lying not far from her head. But a black heel swung past her face and kicked the weapon, sending it clattering away. Then, two Jimmy Choo heels thrust into the boards on either side of her like daggers. Nadia smirked down at her with a triumphant gleam in her eye. As she lifted one spike heel to bring it down in Julia’s eye, Nadia stopped for a beat to savor her victory. And that was her mistake.

Julia reached for Nadia’s foot and flipped her overhead. Julia blinked in surprise at the black-heeled shoe still in her hand. Then she tossed it aside, scrambled to her feet, ran for the Taser, and retrieved it. A hand grabbed her ankle from behind and tripped her, causing her to drop the weapon again. The next thing she knew, they were both on the ground, clawing and slapping and trying to grab each other’s arms. Nadia slugged her hard across the jaw—the pain so sharp and overwhelming that for a moment she could register nothing but a flash of white light.

Before Julia could regain her bearings, she saw Nadia’s face hovering over hers, crimson with rage and exertion. She felt two hands on her neck, squeezing so hard that she wondered if her spinal cord might snap before she even had a chance to suffocate. She tried to gasp for air, but no sound emerged. Her hands were falling asleep. Nadia was kneeling on her arms. She had no options left. She prepared to die.

“Don’t feel too bad, Heloise,” Nadia growled. “Maybe you can come back another time.”

Dear God, will I have to go through this again?
Julia thought desperately. Then, as everything began to go black, she turned her head toward the pylon and looked into Austin’s eyes, Pierre’s eyes. He was dying in agony again. The fear in his eyes changed to resignation and sorrow.

She heard his voice in her head, “Goodbye, my love. Until we meet again.”

A wave of resolve filled her being like water into a glass.
No, we can’t go through this again.
“Austin, I’m coming!” she sputtered, surprised to hear her own voice. She stared into Nadia’s eyes as she shook herself with one last fish-like lurch, just enough to loosen the other woman’s hands for a split second. “Nadia, fight!” she rasped. “Help me!”

Almost imperceptibly, the rigid fingers lightened their grip on her throat. Julia’s eyes locked on her friend’s. This time, she saw not Genevieve looking back, but Nadia—pushing to come back, fighting her invader. With Austin’s dying gaze blazed into her mind, she wrenched her arms free of Nadia’s knees and pushed the other woman off of her. Julia saw two expressions run across Nadia’s face—one surprised and frightened, the other enraged with hatred. Julia didn’t have long to act.

Both women staggered to their feet, but this time Julia was faster. She ran toward Nadia, leaped into the air, and planted her feet squarely into Nadia’s stomach. Then, as Nadia doubled over, gasping for air, Julia grabbed her around the waist and flipped her overhead, spilling her into the sea on the opposite side of the pier from Austin. Julia looked over the edge, as Nadia’s scream was interrupted by the sound of the splash. Nadia resurfaced 20 yards away and swam for shore. There was no time to go after her. The tide was coming in fast.

Julia ran to Austin’s side of the pier. He had disappeared underneath the water. She looked around her. Nadia’s knife was lying on the boards. She grabbed it and got ready to jump into the water. Then she paused, ran back to retrieve the Taser, and stuffed it into her waistband. She ran back, took a deep breath, and jumped off the edge. Underwater, she found herself face to face with Austin. His eyes were wide with the effort to hold his breath, yet they held a deep sadness as they locked on Julia’s for what might be the last time after all. She swam behind him and sawed at his bonds. The effort cost her plenty of oxygen, and within seconds her lungs were burning. She rose to the surface, gulped more air, and swam below again.

She was only halfway through the rope when Austin lost consciousness. His lungs began to fill with water. She began to panic.
Please, God, please. I beg you help me, God!
she prayed, and felt an answer within for the first time in her life. With the next surge of the tide, a sudden calm filled her. She swam to face Austin and saw that as she’d been pulling on the rope from the other side, she’d loosened it, causing him to slide down the pylon. She slid him the rest of the way down and pulled him free. Then she swam his limp body back to the beach.

Julia dragged him onto the sand and shook him frantically. “Austin? Austin!” He didn’t respond. She began CPR, trying to breathe oxygen into the lungs of her soulmate, trying to pump his heart back to life. But he remained lifeless. She cradled his head in her lap, and her tears of agony mixed with the salt water on his face.

She heard sirens in the distance. When she looked up, she saw Jack and Bertel running toward her—and someone else running behind them. Tyler. “Watch out!” she shouted.

Tyler pulled out a gun and shot Jack, who tumbled onto the sand. Bertel kept running toward her. Just as he reached Julia and Austin, a bullet whizzed past his head. Julia rose to her feet as Tyler approached at full speed.

“Drop it, Tyler!” She pointed her Super Taser at his chest.

He stopped and stared at Austin, obviously surprised to see him. “Where’s Genevieve?”

“Seems she had somewhere else she needed to be, in a big fat hurry,” Julia said. “Look, I’ve already broken up with you, Tyler. Do I need to shoot you too? Put the gun down! I’m a much faster shot than you are. Don’t make me prove it.”

He’d barely started to raise the gun when she Tased him. He fell to the ground. Julia ran to him and went through her now-practiced routine. Then she stared at the Taser and the inhaler in her hands and said, “Julia, you idiot! Salvation is right in your hands.”

She ran back to Austin. Bertel was performing CPR on him. “Get back, Doc!” she said. “It’s time to put our theory to its biggest test.”

She saw comprehension dawn on Bertel’s face as he scrambled backward. She prayed Austin’s soul hadn’t gone too far, and his pineal gland would be receptive. So far, she’d only used this new system on bodies that had some kind of soul on the premises. She zapped Austin once, sprayed him with the PCP cocktail, then zapped him again. She turned to Bertel. “Don’t just sit there! Go see if you can help Jack!”

“Of course.” Bertel ran to Jack’s side.

The bullet had gone through Jack’s arm, and Bertel yanked off his shirt and began fashioning a tourniquet. Moments later the paramedics arrived, along with a slew of police cars.

Julia registered all that in her periphery, but her eyes never left Austin’s face as she waited for a sign of life. A paramedic tried to step in, but she pushed him away. “Give him a second!” One second passed, then another. Then, miraculously, Austin gasped, inhaling air like a man rising from the deep. His body arched up from the sand and fell back. He slowly opened his eyes and looked into hers as she kneeled over him.

“Hey, you,” he whispered, his voice raspy. “Long time, no see.”

“It’s only been a few minutes,” she said.

“Seemed like an eternity.”

Julia wrapped her arms around him, crying and laughing. Then she blurted, “Nadia! She took off!”

Austin nodded. “Find out which officer is in charge and bring him over.” Julia ran off while he stalled the paramedics. “Of course, I’m happy to go with you. But I’m the detective in charge of this case, and I’m not going anywhere until I give the cops some critical information.”

Minutes later, a dragnet spread across the beach, and the search for Nadia began. Meanwhile, two paramedics wrapped Austin in a blanket and loaded him onto a stretcher.

“Thank you,” Julia said to Dr. Bertel.

He began to cry, his palms trying unsuccessfully to block the tears seeping from his eyes. “I don’t deserve your gratitude, Julia.”

“Dr. Bertel, I don’t blame you.”

“You don’t understand,” he whispered. “It was my fault. That day I was electrocuted, it was no accident. I planned it. Remember when I said we weren’t ready for clinical trials? That was only half true. I knew it might take years, if ever, to get approval to test living subjects. So I decided to be the guinea pig. But there was no way to perform the entire experiment on myself, and I knew you’d never agree to it.”

“So it wasn’t a suicide attempt.”

“Not exactly. I bought the defibrillator and set up an electrical short-circuit that could be tripped off with the touch of a single wire. That day, I made sure you saw me walk by with the ladder and the light bulbs. I took the PCP compound,
then
I had my little accident. I knew you’d come running. I knew you’d use the defibrillator.”